Go Ahead, Take A Bite

by Kayleen Larson

Despite its association with original sin (Eve sure knew how to pick ’em), we still love the apple.

And for good reason. An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Newton used an apple to prove the law of gravity. We have Apple computers. The Beatles had Apple Records and Gweneth Paltrow has a daughter named Apple. Which makes sense since the apple does not fall far from the tree and I know my daughter is the apple of my eye.

You can’t compare apples and oranges. But you can make a teacher feel special by giving them one. That is, if you’re a good student, otherwise your fellow students will despise you, since one bad apple spoils the whole barrel. And as my mother said, it’s best not to upset the apple cart.

I’m no Johnny Appleseed but I’d like to think I spread joy wherever I go. So I’m sending a special welcome to "Minnesota 447,” the latest apple to be developed by the famed apple breeding program at the U of M Horticultural Research Center in Chaska.

But poor 447 needs a name and from now until the end of the month, you can enter a state-wide contest to do just that at www.arboretum.umn.edu/whtsnw/pdf/applenamingentryform.pdf

Go ahead; give it your best shot. After all, competition is as American as apple pie. And while you’re at it, in case you missed it in our September/October issue, here’s a list of apples developed at the U of M, many of which are available at area grocers through late November.